When you’re trimming down a piece of writing to make it more succinct and brief, it’s not unusual to go after phrases and clauses that don’t really contribute an integral piece into individual statement’s meaning. That’s when the concept of restrictive and non-restrictive clauses usually come in.
Restrictive Clauses
Restrictive clauses, to put it simply, are ones that are necessary to deliver a sentence’s meaning. For instance, when saying “The computer that has the lightest weight is the one I want,” there is no way to remove the clause “that has the lightest weight” without rendering the sentence meaningless. As such, it is a restrictive clause which will need to be kept to maintain your statement’s clarity.
Non-restrictive Clauses
Non-restrictive clauses, on the other hand, are ones that can be removed without affecting the overall message. For instance, when saying “The computer that I want, which is very light, sits on the third row,” the clause “which is very light” can be easily removed without affecting the statement’s over all meaning. It will be a prime candidate for groups of words you can remove.
The rub, however, is that removing certain components might make your sentence read a little less interesting. While shortening “The car, which rocks my world, is out now” to “The car is out now” sure means the same thing, it loses the added impact that the non-restrictive clause adds. Just because you can remove it doesn’t mean you should.
Let The Software Guide You
If you own a good writing software, make sure to employ its assistance when trying to decide how to cut down your text. While it’s not perfect (it’s still just software), it will likely point you in the right direction when identifying which non-restrictive clauses you can pull out, without damaging your work’s overall feel.
